Homeplus Temporarily Closes Gwangju Gyelim Branch After Visit by Suspected COVID-19 Patient

Confirmed visit for about 1 hour last night
Emergency disinfection conducted in the morning

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] Homeplus announced on the 21st that it will urgently close the Homeplus Gwangju Gaerim branch located in Dong-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City, after confirming that a suspected COVID-19 patient visited the store.

Homeplus confirmed before the store opened on the 21st that a citizen from Buk-gu, Gwangju, who had visited Daegu on the 16th, visited the Homeplus Gwangju Gaerim branch for about one hour starting from 6 p.m. on the 20th.

Accordingly, they decided on an emergency closure that day and conducted store disinfection together with the Dong-gu Public Health Center in Gwangju starting at 9 a.m.

Homeplus stated, "As soon as we received information from the local district office that a suspected COVID-19 patient had visited our store yesterday evening, we immediately initiated emergency disinfection and decided on a temporary closure for the safety of customers and employees, even though the individual was not confirmed positive."

However, the reopening date has not been determined yet and will be decided later in consultation with health authorities and local governments.